Alaska

Majority lawmakers say Alaska schools need more money from state

Published

4 months ago

February 11, 2026

Majority lawmakers say Alaska schools need more money from state

Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, of Sitka, talks with Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, on the House floor on January 22, 2025. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Lawmakers succeeded last year in their effort to permanently boost the state’s per-student funding formula for K-12 public schools, twice overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s vetoes to cement an increase that educators had long asked for.

But after years of flat funding from the state and declining enrollment, districts across Alaska this year say they are still in dire straits. The Anchorage School District, which last year spent down its budget reserve amid state funding uncertainty, is facing a $90 million deficit. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District has a $23 million deficit. The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is estimating a deficit of $8.5 million. Juneau schools face a deficit of more than $5 million.

Senate Education Committee Chair Löki Tobin called the funding increase approved last year “woefully insufficient.”

The bipartisan majority coalition in the Alaska House is still prioritizing school funding, said House Education Committee Co-Chair Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, a Sitka independent, in an interview on Tuesday. But the mechanism by which that funding stability will be achieved remains unclear, she said.

“Education remains one of our No. 1 priorities, so we’re not backing away from it in the House Majority coalition, in any way at all,” said Himschoot. “Now the political reality of what’s possible is a different story. So whatever is possible — we’re committed to doing — and the limitation is what is actually possible.”

That political reality is shaped by limited revenue and “advocacy fatigue” that has left Alaskans tired of again asking for a funding boost after making it a flagship issue during the preceding two legislative sessions.

Last year’s boost to the state’s education formula was hailed by districts as a success, though it amounted to less than half the funding amount that public educators requested in 2024. Last year’s legislation yielded no effective revenue increase to most schools, because it came on the heels of an outside-the-formula spending boost of equal size in the preceding fiscal year.

In effect, the state’s K-12 education budget dropped between last year and the current year, by roughly $20 million, following a student enrollment drop of nearly 1,000 students.

Alaska has 125,317 public school students this year, according to data collected in the fall by the state. That’s down from 126,284 in 2024; 127,931 in 2023; and 128,088 in 2022.

Despite lawmakers’ hard-fought battles over education funding in recent years, the state’s effective spending on K-12 schools has remained virtually unchanged, going from $1.29 billion in the 2023 fiscal year to $1.33 billion in the current fiscal year, a roughly 3% increase, far below the inflation rate in the same period.

The governor’s budget draft introduced in December accounts for no new education funding this year, even as Dunleavy asked for spending increases for most other executive branch departments, to account for salary increases and other inflation-driven costs.

“Everything that our state government does requires increases every year, and yet we’re not providing those increases to education,” said Himschoot.

Funding woes have translated to different challenges across the state. In urban areas, including Anchorage, stagnant state funding has led districts to shutter enrichment programs and sports and grow class sizes. In rural areas, districts are struggling to keep buildings operational and qualified teachers in classrooms.

Ideas for shoring up education funding this year abound, said Himschoot and Tobin. They include pegging the state’s funding formula, known as the Base Student Allocation, to an inflation metric; providing dedicated funding streams for high-value budget items like reading coaches and vocational instructors; and upping state spending on the maintenance and repair of school buildings.

But three weeks into the legislative session, it is not immediately clear which of those ideas — if any — could garner enough support from the House and Senate to become law and fit into a tight budget process.

“We’ve got to get 11 votes in the Senate, 21 votes in the House, and hopefully get it past the governor. If that’s not the case, then I’m going to be working to get 40 (votes),” said Tobin, alluding to the threshold needed to override the governor.

Senate leaders said Tuesday that they are focused on addressing a backlog that has left school buildings with deferred maintenance and repair projects worth more than $2 billion.

The Legislature has in recent years funded only a fraction of maintenance projects identified as priorities by schools. The identified priorities are themselves an undercount of needed projects, lawmakers say, because some districts have stopped applying to the state for funding.

Dunleavy has during his tenure repeatedly slashed education funding to the tune of tens of millions of dollars annually for both school operations and maintenance. He has not commented publicly this year on whether he would allow an education funding increase to become law or again use his veto pen.

“The Senate majority is continuing to look for pathways to help support our struggling public school infrastructure, and also our public school services, and we are going to use every opportunity and everything available to us to invest in the best and most important resource our state has, which is our children,” said Tobin, an Anchorage Democrat.

Himschoot said she doesn’t think it’s realistic “at all” to again increase the Base Student Allocation by $700, which is what lawmakers did last year — bringing it from $5,960 to $6,660. But a smaller increase may be possible, she said.

“Will there be some kind of BSA inflationary adjustment? I think that’s on the table. Will there be funding to other programs that bring relief to districts? I think that’s on the table. In the absence of a solid fiscal plan, it’s really hard to talk about what’s possible,” Himschoot said.

Dunleavy last year vetoed a bill approved by lawmakers that would have raised between $25 million and $65 million by applying the state’s corporate income tax to Outside companies providing online services to Alaskans. That bill would have directed the new revenue to reading assistance and vocational programs in Alaska schools. After lawmakers failed to override Dunleavy’s veto last month, House majority members reintroduced the revenue bill. It is scheduled for a hearing later this week.

The House Education Committee is currently considering a bill from Rep. Andi Story, a Juneau Democrat who co-chairs the committee, which would change the way the state allocates money to districts. The bill would allow the districts to average out their attendance numbers over a three-year period, rather than using a single-year figure, among other changes. That would provide districts with more funding stability even as their enrollment numbers fluctuate.

The change is based on recommendations that appeared in a 2015 report commissioned by lawmakers.

According to Dunleavy administration education officials, the change could increase state spending on schools more than $70 million in the coming fiscal year. Of that, roughly $23 million would go to the Anchorage School District; nearly $10 million would go to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District; and more than $8 million would go to the Kenai Peninsula borough School District.

But it’s not immediately clear whether that bill will get the support needed to advance.

“I don’t see $70 million low-hanging fruit anywhere in the state right now,” said Himschoot.

“To me, it’s reasonable,” she said on the prospect of spending that amount from state savings. “To some of my colleagues, it’s not reasonable at all.”

Daily News reporter Mari Kanagy contributed from Juneau.

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Alaska

State of Alaska Secures Win in Fight for Transparency Around Oil Development

Published

7 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

State of Alaska Secures Win in Fight for Transparency Around Oil Development

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Image-SOM

(Bethel, AK) –Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a favorable opinion for the State of Alaska in ConocoPhillips Alaska v. Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC), agreeing that State laws requiring disclosure of oil well data are not preempted by federal law.

“Alaska relies heavily on our resources and resource development,” said Acting Alaska Attorney General Cori Mills. “We are also stewards of those resources for the citizens of Alaska. Alaska’s law both allows resource development now, and encourages further development and exploration in the future. We’re pleased that the Ninth Circuit recognized that federal law has not overridden Alaska’s balanced approach.”

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulates oil and gas operations throughout Alaska, including within the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR–A). Under Alaska law, companies need permits from the AOGCC to drill and must submit well data. The AOGCC is required to keep well data confidential for 24 months.

ConocoPhillips drilled several wells on lease holdings within the NPR–A and submitted data to the AOGCC. When the 24-month period expired, the AOGCC notified ConocoPhillips of the upcoming well data disclosure. ConocoPhillips sued in federal court to stop the disclosure process claiming that the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, the federal law allowing private exploration in the NPR–A, preempted Alaska’s 24-month disclosure law. The federal district court found Alaska law preempted, and the AOGCC sought appellate review by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

On appeal, the Ninth Circuit agreed with the AOGCC. The federal Production Act does not preempt state law. The Ninth Circuit therefore reversed the district court’s holding to the contrary.

“The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is pleased with the court’s decision upholding Alaska law,” said AOGCC Commissioner Jessie Chmielowski in a declaration filed in the litigation court. “Alaska’s balanced approach to well data confidentiality leads to increased exploration activity, not less. Alaska law allows for a two-year confidentiality period on exploration well data to leverage a company’s investment in drilling. Thereafter, making the data public has incentivized exploration on the North Slope. Placing well data in the public record allows competing companies to evaluate different exploration concepts or interpretations based on seismic data that, without well data, are just educated guesses.”

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Alaska

Opinion: A governor’s race for Alaska’s next generation

Published

19 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Press Room

Opinion: A governor’s race for Alaska’s next generation

Alaska Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (Photo courtesy Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins)

Alaska needs change. That’s why I’m running for governor: to bring new energy and a new generation of leadership to the governor’s office.

For 13 years in a row, more Alaskans have left our great state than have moved here. Prices are rising, schools are closing and Alaskans are getting left behind.

This year, those planning to leave Alaska include Ben and Catherine Walker, both recipients of Alaska’s Teacher of the Year Award. They can’t justify staying in the place they grew up in and love because of our failure to invest in the fundamentals, such as our schools.

The problem is personal. I’m 37. Many of those leaving Alaska are my age — debating whether there’s a future for us here or not. It’s a challenge we must solve.

I love challenges.

Back in 2012, I dropped out of college to challenge an entrenched Republican incumbent legislator who was running unopposed to represent my home region of Southeast Alaska. I launched a scrappy, grassroots campaign and focused on the kitchen table issues that matter to every Alaskan: good schools, getting our fair share of oil revenues, lowering costs, protecting our fisheries. I won — by 32 votes.

When I was sworn in, I was baby-faced and bushy-tailed, just 23 years old. It was the beginning of a decade-long tenure in the Legislature. A lot happened in those 10 years.

Among the most important: We formed the House Bipartisan Coalition in 2016. While I have a “D” next to my name, I believe strongly in working across party lines. That’s what the Bipartisan Coalition was, and is, all about: Democrats, moderate Republicans and independents, all working together to do what’s best for Alaska.

I want to bring that same bipartisan, vigorous problem-solving spirit to the governor’s office, where it has been nonexistent the last eight years.

As governor, I want to work hand in hand with the Legislature to deliver some desperately needed wins for Alaska that will make our lives better and get our state back on track:

• Reinvest in our public schools. Our school districts are in battlefield triage mode, but instead of amputating limbs, our school boards are forced to choose which sports to cut, which electives to discontinue and which neighborhood school to close. Enough already. Get school funding back up to par.

• Forward fund our schools. Our school districts shouldn’t have to guess how much education funding will end up being appropriated in end-of-session legislative haggling.

This circus forces school districts to prospectively fire teachers, then rehire them a month or two later, when they find out the final education funding number. It’s awful for all involved. We should fix it by forward funding.

• Close the Hilcorp corporate income tax loophole. Hilcorp should pay their fair share in taxes just as ConocoPhillips, and nearly every other major corporation in Alaska, already does.

• Lower the cost of energy. Chugach Electric Association, Golden Valley Electric Association, Homer Electric Association and Matanuska Electric Association operate about 1,700 megawatts in power generation capacity. Peak Railbelt winter demand is half that: about 850 megawatts. Guess who pays for the nearly gigawatt in underused and unused power plants? You, on your power bill. The governor should force the co-ops to work together, reduce redundancies and diversify energy sources, including renewables, in order to reduce the sky-high cost of energy for Alaskans.

• Lower the cost of childcare. Alaska has inadvertently created a system of childcare permitting and licensing that effectively amounts to death by a thousand pieces of paperwork. It’s creating scarcity and cost. We need to fix it.

• Lower the cost of housing. Cut red tape to make it easier and cheaper to build more homes of all kinds — from tiny homes and ADUs to manufactured and modular housing, to apartments and condos, to traditional single-family homes. More housing of all kinds, faster.

• Rein in bottom-trawl bycatch. I will nominate Alaskans to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council who will make sure that Alaska and Alaskans — not Seattle and Lower 48 industry interests — foremost benefit from our fisheries.

• Responsibly develop our resources. Support projects that have regional buy-in and support, such as Pikka on the North Slope, which just produced first oil this month, while saying “no” when the risks are too great and those in the region are opposed, as is the case with Pebble.

• Grow our tourism economy. And let’s crack the code on winter tourism while we’re at it. If Iceland can do it, we darn well can, too. Fairbanks is having burgeoning winter tourism success. Let’s follow their great lead.

• Make Alaska an awesome place to live. Let’s build dozens more public-use cabins. Let’s build an alpine hut-to-hut system like they have in New Zealand and the Alps. Let’s build the Alaska Long Trail. Let’s make Anchorage a world-class winter city.

Does this sound like the kind of Alaska you want to live in? Then I have great news: We are the governor campaign for you. And if what you just read gives you indigestion, you’ll be relieved to know you have 17 other options.

I have more great news: I can win.

After beating an entrenched Republican incumbent, I spent a decade representing a swingy district that voted for Donald Trump.

In those 10 years, I recorded some of the highest margins of crossover support from Trump voters of any Democrat in Alaska. I ran 12% ahead of Hillary Clinton in 2016 and 15% ahead of Joe Biden in 2020.

Here’s the simple truth: Whoever becomes our next governor will need to win with the support of significant numbers of independents and moderate Republicans, in addition to Democrats. I’ve done that. And I’ll do it again. Will you join me?

Former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins of Sitka is a candidate for governor of Alaska.

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